Engine piston



Sept. 25, 1923.

' 31,468,623 R. ALFORD v ENGINE PISTON Filed Oct. 19, 1922 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 A TTORNEY.

Sept. 25', 11923. nmmm R. ALFORD ENGINE PISTON Filed Oct. 19 1922 2 Sheets-Sham 2 I Q I a Mir 6.5.5 e 5: 0&6); 125:2

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hering to-the spark plugs and 15 realise Sept. 25, 192.

ROBERT ALFORD, OF LENOIR CITY, TENNESSEE.

ENGIN E PISTON.

- Application filed October 19, 1922. Serial No. 595,500.

To all whom it may concern.

Be it known that I, Ronnn'r ALFORD, a citizen of the United States, residing at Lenoir City, in the county of London and State of Tennessee, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Engine Pistons, of which the following is a specification. In the conventional type of combustion engine pistons, it is'a well known fact that the piston lubricating oils have a tendency to pass upwardly beyond the piston rings carried by the piston for consequently adreventing firing of the same and also creatmg carbon deposits within the combustion chamber, which action prevents the efiicient operation of the engine, and oftentimes necessitates a compete overhauling of the same.

It is therefore the primary object of the present invention to provide an improved form of piston, wherein any excess lubricants that would otherwise tend to seep up-.

wardly past the rings will be conveyed downwardly into the usual oil groove formed on the piston, whereby the above mentioned objections are effectively overcome.

A further object of the invention resides in theprovision of such an engine piston thatmay be manufactured without any increase in expense over those now almost universally employed.

With the above and other objects in view,

as the nature of the invention is better understood, the same comprises an extremely simple construction of engine piston, hereinafter more fully described and shown in the accompanying drawings, forming a part of, the present application.

In the drawings Figure 1 is a side elevational view of a piston constructed in accordance with the present invention.

igure 2 is a vertical cross sectional view upon the lines 22 of Figure 1-.

Figure 3 is a fragmentary vertical section upon the line 33 of Figure 1, and looking in the direction of the arrows, and

Figure 4 is a fragmentary sectional view upon the line 44 of Figure 1, and looking downwardly in the direction of the arrows.

Briefly described, the invention contemlates the pn :ision of an engine piston aving the usual upper set of ring grooves and the lower oil groove, novel means being provided between the lower oil groove, and the adjacent ring groove for conveying any oil, that would tend to escape beyond the ring grooves, downwardly to the oil groove. This novel means merely includes the pro- VlSlOIl of a plurality of other grooves or channels diagonaliy arranged upon the face of the piston, and between the lower ring groove and oil groove in a manner hereinafter more fully described.

Having particular reference to the several views, there is shown a usual piston 1, having a set of upper ring grooves 2, and a lower oil oove 3, and alined annular apertures 4 1n the side wall thereof, the provision of which will be readily apparent.

Arranged upon the face of the iston 1, and at opposite sides of the annu ar apertures 4:, are a pair of oil grooves or channels 5, diagonally arranged in opposite directions upon the face of the piston, the upper ends thereof connecting as shown. The connecting ends of these grooves or channels are disposed at a point s'ightly beneath the bottom wall of the lower ring groove 2, this bottom wall being transversely slotted as at 6- for establishing communication between the upper connecting ends of the grooves, and a relatively small bore 7 extending through the wall of the piston, for allowing some of the excess oil to pass therethrou h and thence to flow downwardly upon t e inner face of the piston wall.

As above stated, the grooves 5 are arranged diagonally in opposite directions upon the wall of the piston, and each of these grooves are so formed within the piston as to appear hooked shaped in cross section as shown in Figure 3, thereby constituting a series of diagonally arranged pockets or oil channel ways. The hooked or curved end of the grooves effect the bottom wall thereof, and is designated by the numeral 8. The inner wall 9 of the grooves are substantially elongated with respect to the opposite outer wall 10, and is so out within the piston as to converge inwardly with respect to the longitudinal axis of the wall thereof. The upper edge of the outer wall 10 of the grooves will present a knife-like edge to the wall of the cylinder for scraping the oil therefrom, whereby the same will be received within the diagonally arranged pockets or channel ways of, the piston to be conveyed downwardly into the oil groove 3.

From the above description, it will be readily apparent that the lubricant tending to work its way upwardly upon the wall of the piston, will be efiectively caught within the said diagonally arranged grooves, wherepreferred embodiment of the present invention, it is nevertheless to be understood that I do not wish to limit myself to this 20 exact structure, as minor changes may be made therein without departing from the 1 spirit and scope of the invention as claimed.

What is claimedas new is:- In engine pistons of the type including upper ring grooves and a lower oil groove,

:1 pair of diagonally arranged channel ways formed upon the opposite sides of the piston wall, the channel way of each pair arranged in opposite directions and establishing communication at their up r ends, the said piston wall havin a re therethrough communicating wit the upper ends of the channel ways for allowing a portion of the excess oil to pass lnteriorly of'the piston and other excess oil being received within the said channel ways wherebv the same is conveyed to the oil groove within the piston. In testimony whereof I aifix my signature.

ROBERT-:ALFORD. 

